Don’t me wrong, I do enjoy teaching kids to learn to play the piano, but in some ways, adults are better piano students.
Over the years I have started to teach kids the piano who are so enthusiastic to begin with and after a few months they are wanting to quit. This is because some kids don’t realize that there is work and effort that they have to put in, in order to be able to play the piano. Adults realize from the very beginning that if they are going to achieve learning to play the piano, then they are going to have to put in consistent and sustained effort to achieve their goals.
Sometimes, just sometimes when a child is learning to play the piano and they have a big personality, that they will actually argue with me that something that I am telling them is actually wrong. This doesn’t mean they become rude, (because that has never happened) but they will still try and tell me I’m wrong, when clearly I know my stuff.
Clearly kids don’t have the maturity and the brain development to always understand that their misconceptions are actually wrong. They don’t realize that sometimes the picture of the way that they see things, isn’t reality. Adults, don’t argue with me, they question. Questions are always good because they lead to a deeper or more thorough understanding of various concepts. Also adults are happier to own their mistakes rather than make excuses.
Teaching kids is harder work than teaching adults. Especially when teaching young children, sometimes you have to deal with tiredness or tears because they are little humans who need a little more understanding or care before they can start or continue with their piano lesson. Adults are equipped with more resilience to attend a piano lesson while leaving their issues or challenges or hurts at home. For the record, I’m always happy to give a student what they need, no matter how big or small they are, but teaching little people can be harder work.
Where there is no difference between kids and adults learning to play the piano is enthusiasm. I can think of so many students, both young and older that have been enthusiastic and dedicated to learning to play the piano. Likewise adults and kids are fairly equal when it comes to being moved out of their current comfort zone. Some are happy to be moved out of their comfort zone, while the ones that doubt their abilities and potential can be hesitant or even reluctant to try something new.
Even though I have had many wonderful piano students, both young and older, I must admit that adult piano students are easier to teach simply because of their maturity and understanding of what effort is needed in order to be able to play the piano.